Podiatric Biomechanics

Podiatric Biomechanics is the specialism concerned with the preservation, restoration and development of normal foot/leg function.
Biomechanics is the application of the laws of Newtonian physics to the human body, It enables us to apply mechanical principals to the lower limb in both stance and motion.

Your foot is a complex lever system over which your whole body is propelled forwards. The foot also acts as a shock absorber, cushioning anatomical structures within the foot and lower limbs from the huge forces placed through it at every step.

Biomechanical principles enable us to assess your foot and lower limb function with much greater scientific and diagnostic accuracy and determine when and how to intervene to enhance foot and lower limb function.

Our orthotics are medical devices which are Irish Medecine Board approved and conform to the essential requirements set out in schedule 1 of SI.NO.252 of 1994.

Gait and Biomechanical Analysis

One of the most important factors in resolving an injury or musculo-skeletal condition is to determine which structures are involved and why they are hurting. Good anatomical knowledge along with biomechanical evaluation and gait analysis are essential tools in determining why someone has a particular problem.

We use advanced digital video analysis which allows us to examine human movement and detect abnormalities occurring during the gait cycle.

Foot pressure evaluation is sometimes a useful tool in ascertaining certain gait abnormalities but we never use foot pressure techniques, with or without a computer, as the only means of evaluating a patient. At our clinic we use a state of the art pressure plate to enhance our clinical evaluation. Pressure evaluation can be a beneficial part of a biomechanical assessment.

A thorough biomechanical evaluation in conjunction with a critical gait analysis is vital. All our patients receive a complete assessment and we always write our own orthotic prescriptions.